Amanda St John is a soul and blues singer songwriter from the small rural village of Glenariffe, Co. Antrim.

Her debut album ‘Grow’ was launched in May 2016 to a full house at the prestigious Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast and has received rave reviews and worldwide airplay including a national advert campaign for The Rio Olympics for the title track ‘Grow’.

Glamorous well known local singer Amanda St John reveals her makeup bag secrets

She has worked with artists including Brian Kennedy, Duke Special, Eddi Reader, Mary Coughlan, Ciaran Gribbin (of INXS) and Jon Tiven (the Grammy award winning Nashville writer/producer who has worked with BB King, Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones). And whilst Amanda always appears glamorous during her popular performances, Amanda reveals she has maintained a laidback approach for her daily routine.

“I’m very lazy with my beauty regime to be honest. I’m always in a rush so it’s generally just a face wash or scrub and some light moisturiser.

“I use the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit range as I tend to get quite bad break outs, especially if I’m over-tired or stressed.

“My every day makeup is quite natural, I generally wear foundation, mascara, blusher and some lip gloss. If I have a meeting or lunch date I’ll put some light eye shadow and black eyeliner too. I do love my makeup!

“I use Estee Lauder Double Wear light Foundation as I find it has great coverage and staying power but isn’t too heavy on my skin, I use their bronzer and blushers too, as well as a powder to stop my T zone getting too shiny. I love Urban Decay eye shadows and primers, the colours are great and they have good staying power as well. I use Max Factor mascara and I just love MAC lipsticks and lip liners, I have so many of them.”

And Amanda says she is loyal when it comes to products, “I don’t tend to change my products up often, if I like something I tend to stick to it.

“The last piece of makeup I purchased was Loreal Infallible foundation. I’ve been on the look out for a cheaper, long wearing foundation for every day wear and a makeup up artist recommended this. I’ve only tried it a couple of times and really like it.

“But if I had to choose just one ‘go-to’ beauty or makeup item, I could not live without concealer. I have quite oily skin and do get break outs so I don’t think I could do without it! I generally do my own makeup but for bigger gigs, videos and photo shoots I use a fabulous makeup artist called Rebecca Bryson. She just transforms me and makes me feel glamorous which helps with my confidence for bigger performances too.

“For an important event or big night out I normally wear heavier eye makeup, especially my vintage flick eyeliner and more defined lips for nights out. If it’s a big event I’ll wear false eyelashes too for a bit of extra drama.”